This week in 1982: Nicaragua asked the U.N. to denounce the U.S. invasion of its territory; OPEC moved to bolster oil prices, cutting production by 700,000 barrels per day; Four Dutch newsmen were killed in El Salvador – where they had gone to film rebel groups; and a quartet was on its way to their sixth No. 1!
Hit songs can and do come from just about anywhere and everywhere, but very few hit songs began with a 2-year-old. But it happened with The Oak Ridge Boys' 1982 No. 1, "Bobby Sue."
According to songwriter Dan Tyler, he and his wife noticed that their 2-year-old son could not sing the words "baa – baa - black sheep," so they transposed that line into "baa – baa- bah – bah – Bobbie Sue," which became a song and a 1982 No. 1 for The Oak Ridge Boys.
Dan and Adele Tyler finished the song with Wood Newton, demoed the tune and mailed the tape to The Oak Ridge Boys.
The day after they received the tape, The Oak Ridge Boys were in Woodland Studios in Nashville, Tennessee, to record "Bobbie Sue." And the first attempt to record the song didn't work, so they left and came back for another try a couple of days later. And the second effort worked.
The Oak Ridge Boys' MCA single "Bobbie Sue" came on the charts Jan. 23, 1982, and was in the top slot on April 3.
It was The Oak Ridge Boys' 17th charted song and their sixth No 1.
The single was on the charts for 15 weeks and also scored a No. 12 on the pop charts.
Between 1973 and 1999, The Oak Ridge Boys placed 48 songs on the country charts, including 17 No. 1's.
Eight of their 48 country charted songs also made the pop charts.
The Oak Ridge Boys joined The Grand Ole Opry in 2011 and were inducted into The Country Music Hall Of Fame in 2015.
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